Truth and Change
by Evil Is A Relative Term
Summary: Just a short little story about how people can change and how Sasuke sees this in those he left behind in his quest for power. Darkish AU.


Disclaimer: Still not mine.

A/N: This is a one-shot for the time being, but I may be convinced to take it further. This story begins sometime after Itachi is killed. It's just a short little piece about how people can change. I'll apologize in advance for any Japanese terms that I may butcher in the process of my writing and any errors that I might have missed.

Truth and Change

The hot springs town is just like every other Sasuke has ever entered, full of the smell of sulfur and tourists and the heat of the springs themselves. He reminds himself that even a team as driven as his needs a break every once in a while, a little time to sit and eat and just relax. At least, that is what Karin tells him and some days it is simply easier to do as she asks. Sasuke simply curses the time lost where something meaningful could be accomplished. His team, normally so conspicuous, is hidden by the ebb and flow of the crowd. Hebi is peering interestedly at the shops and Sasuke is reminded of other missions, long ago, with a team now lost. Like a grim specter of memory he hears a familiar laugh.

His ebony eyes narrow as he identifies it. Naruto. The sheer impossibility of it leaves him stunned for a moment until he remembers that they chase him still, to drag him back to that pitiful village that has taken so much from him. He looks around, but cannot see where it originated from. There are too many people and he does not want to use his Sharingan here. He is a missing-nin after all. Karin latches on to his arm and babbles something into his ear, but he ignores her even as she begins to pout.

Suigetsu and Juugo are waiting patiently just behind him. Juugo will not leave his side in a crowd this size and Suigetsu simply hasn't seen anything that has caught his eye yet. He amends that last statement as Suigetsu begins to make his way through the crowd as easily as his sword slices through flesh. He is heading for a teahouse ahead, and Sasuke follows at his own pace. Karin is still clinging tightly to his arm and Juugo follows, but there is something about him that makes even the densest civilian allow him to pass.

By the time they get there Suigetsu has already secured them one of the low tables and Sasuke lowers himself gracefully onto the mat. He does not even bother to scan the room for threats. He noted the entrances and exits when they entered and there is no one in this town from which he would fear attack.

"Man, now I've seen everything." Suigetsu says from across the table. The front of the tea shop is open and Suigetsu sits with his back to the street. Sasuke has no interest in the interior of the spacious room. His view of the street is far more entertaining.

"What are you talking about?" Karin asks snappishly from her place next to Sasuke.

"Do you think that's her real hair color?" Suigetsu asks Juugo. They're obviously talking about someone he cannot see inside.

Juugo shrugs, but peers more closely all the same. "I don't think that shade of pink could be natural." Sasuke freezes.

"What?" He asks sharply, hoping that the laugh he heard earlier was simply a figment of his imagination, as strange as that may seem.

Suigetsu shrugs. "There's some chick with pink hair talking with a blonde boy back there."

"The boy," Sasuke inquires stiffly, "he has marks on his cheeks that look almost like whiskers?"

"Yeah," Suigetsu says with some surprise, "how did you know? I didn't notice them until you pointed them out."

"Is something wrong Sasuke-kun?" Karin asks worriedly. He supposes she can feel how tense he is from her grasp on his arm.

Without answering he turns to look. They are sitting near the back, but this tea house has many windows and so the light is clear. They are not as he remembers them from the last time he saw them. Then it was all blood and will and intent to kill, but now they are relaxed. It has been almost a year since he has seen them last, but he is still surprised at the change in their appearance.

Naruto is taller again, and he is beginning to have a disturbing resemblance to the pictures Sasuke has seen of the Fourth Hokage. His blonde hair has lost none of its brash yellow color, but now it is growing out and hangs nearly into his eyes. The headband that was once displayed so prominently now hangs around his neck, as Sasuke had seen him wear it only once, during the Third's funeral. Sasuke is given a rather good view of his impressive musculature, because he isn't wearing a shirt. For a ninja his skin is remarkably free of scars and Sasuke can't help but think it is the Kyuubi that preserves him so well. He wears loose pants like Sasuke's own, but his black is broken at the bottom by leaping orange flames. An enormous scroll is laid to one side with a battered backpack, and there is a pile of neatly folded cloth on the other that Sasuke thinks might be his shirt, but a conical hat that is unpleasantly familiar sits on top. He hasn't even noticed Sasuke looking yet and Sasuke hopes it will remain the case.

Sakura sits across from him, and her eyes are cool and focused on the game of shogi laid out before them. Her bangs, once brushed into neat submission, now fall messily across her eyes, but she does not seem unduly bothered by the loose strands. The rest of the pink candy floss strands are pulled back in a manner similar to how his brother had once worn his. Her traditional red is nowhere to be found. Instead she is wearing only black bindings across her chest, and the same loose pants, hers in unbroken black. To one side another battered pack rests, telling of long journeys. On her other is another neat pile of clothing, a taller stack than the one beside Naruto, but still surmounted by the familiar hat. As she leans forward to make her move his eye is caught by the necklace she wears. Naruto is wearing one too, a long blue crystal with metal charms on either side. Sakura's is strung on a black cord and several objects make soft clinks as they hit against one another, but he cannot tell what they are.

Their sixth sense that once would have told them he was there the instant he enters seems to have failed them. Instead they once continue sipping tea and playing shogi in silence. Which is uncharacteristic of them both and his suspicions are raised as he notes the wrapped katana that lays by Sakura's pack, the scrolls the stick out from different pockets, what he suspects are fans sticking from Naruto's backpack and a pair of twinned short swords laying beside him. Perhaps they are not so blind. But they make no move. Instead Sakura wins the game of shogi and they pay and collect their scattered gear.

They pull on the packs and Sakura picks up the katana, but they make no move to don more clothing. Instead the cloth is thrown over their arms and their hats are picked up and they leave without a word. But both of them look directly at Sasuke as they do so and he knows there is no way they cannot see him. But neither moves toward him or even makes any sign of recognition besides an unreadable flash in their eyes. It is then that Sasuke notices incongruities he hadn't at first. The headband around Naruto's throat declares that he is a ninja from Suna and Sakura is not wearing a headband at all. It makes Sasuke curious, but he knows that is might simply be a ploy to lure him out. They walk right by his table without even looking back. He watches them go.

"Sasuke-kun?" His attention is torn from the disappearing figures by Karin's voice. "Did you know them?"

"Once." He answers curtly and rises from the table after throwing down enough money to pay for the rice he never bothered to eat.

"Sasuke-kun? Where are you going?" His team automatically rises and follows him, though they have not eaten their orders either. They do it swiftly and without complaint, because they recognize that look in his eye.

"Karin." He says quietly. "Can you follow their chakra signatures?"

"Those two that just left? Sure Sasuke-kun, but why?" Karin asks.

"Just do it." He is finished with having to explain his reasoning for every action. This team knows better than to expect that.

She complies and they follow them to a small clearing where they wait in the tree line. Their packs and swords are propped against the trees and it appears they are getting ready to leave. Naruto has pulled on a sleeveless shirt of light black fabric and net and pulls on a loose yukata over it. It is hemmed in the same orange flames, with the familiar red spiral just at the center of his back. He leaves it loose and open, instead sheathing his swords horizontally at the bottom of his back with chakra loops and pulling on his battered green pack that Sasuke remembers even from their time as genin.

Sakura doesn't bother with an undershirt, instead pulling on a yukata in the same black as the rest of her outfit on. She secures it loosely around her waist, but Sasuke's attention is caught by the upper arms, which have been covered in forehead protectors. They are from every major Hidden Village and some have unfamiliar symbols, but still others are defaced in the manner of missing-nin. It is those that he finds most interesting. A white sleeveless over cloak with a simple pattern of black diamonds near the bottom is pulled on over the black and is left flowing and loose. As she turned to retrieve the katana he notes the familiar circle of the Haruno clan in black on the back, but the circle is broken by the katana as it is buckled on diagonally. The pack is pulled on over it, and Sakura reaches down to pick up the hat. A familiar spill of white silk veil falls from the depths of its interior as she stands. Naruto's is bereft of the veil, but serves the purpose as it puts his eyes in shadow as he pulls it on.

Sakura has her back turned to him, but it is her voice as she places the hat on her head and allows the fall of silk to conceal her hair that rings out. "Hello Sasuke."

"How do you know Sasuke-kun?" Karin demands, her jealousy overriding her good sense.

"We were teammates. Weren't we Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asks, head bowed so that his eyes were concealed, one hand reached up to adjust the tilt of his hat. His eyes are concealed, but the lilt in his voice and the grin that reveals too-sharp canines is taunting and sardonic.

"Hn. What are you two doing here?" Sasuke demanded.

"Last time we checked Sasuke, this was a resort town. Not exactly somewhere we have to have your permission to enter." Sakura said, studiously ignoring him in favor of donning a pair of worn fingerless black gloves that were just about the only things he recognized from their last encounter.

"Not following me?" he asked voice low and dangerous.

It didn't make much of an impression on Naruto, apparently, because he snorted. "The world doesn't revolve around you Sasuke."

"Besides," this from Sakura and now her voice had turned sly, "there is a far more interesting Uchiha to chase now."

"What?" Karin asked, eyes narrowed.

"Madara." Sakura said.

"You know about Madara? How? I mean, we just learned about him a couple of months ago." Suigetsu asked curiously. Sasuke couldn't fault him for the question. It was one he wanted to ask himself. His eyes narrowed in thought. If they knew about Madara, did they know about the fate of the Uchiha clan?

Sakura clicked her tongue in reproach. "We can't be giving away all our secrets just like that. It's..." her voice paused teasing, "not amusing."

Naruto grinned, suddenly very fox-like and slightly disturbing, mostly in that he had never noticed it in all the time he had spent with him. "Sorry, but we've got to go. There's a festival in a town in Earth that we don't want to miss."

"Wait. I thought Sasuke was from the Leaf Village. But your headband says you're from Suna and she...well...you get my point." Juugo said, making an excellent point.

"Ah, well, I passed my chunnin exam in Suna. And I'm friends with the Kazekage. So," and he shrugged, "sometimes I wear it when traveling. I'll be wearing a Hidden Glass headband as soon as we cross the border."

"You passed the exams in Suna?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"Yeah. Each village does it differently. They emphasize different skills. Suna's is mostly endurance. Leaf's is more balanced."

Suigetsu nodded. "He's right. It's why different types of ninja succeed in different places. You've probably heard about the exams in the Hidden Mist Village." He grinned darkly, showing shark-like teeth and Sasuke recalled Zabuza's stories about just the graduation exams and suppresses a slight shiver of unease. There was a reason it was called Blood Mist Village.

"Believe it! That's where Kakashi-sensei and Sakura passed their chunnin exams!" He ignored the look of incredulous surprise on Sasuke's face as he continued, "It took forever for the judges to decide if Sakura was going to pass or not. They couldn't tell if her opponent died while the proctor was saying 'Begin' or just after."

"She killed her opponent?" Sasuke asked, not quite keeping the shock of his voice.

Sakura snorted. "Any chunnin I know would've ducked. Nobody in their right mind _braces_ for one of my punches." As easily as if every ninja worth the name should know.

"See you later Sasuke. " Naruto smirked, disappearing in a flurry of orange leaves. Sakura followed in a whirl of sakura petals. Sasuke was left standing, wandering what had happened to the friends he had known.


End file.
